Page 79 of Your Fault

I went downstairs to receive him, almost shaking. I had wanted to see him so badly… It was almost as if a messenger had heard my call and sent him to me. I didn’t stop to think what his words signified or about the feminine voice I’d heard over the phone. I’d imagined I’d come out and throw myself in his arms,but instead I found him with her, the girl who had gotten Jenna out of jail.

I stopped in the doorframe.

She was well-dressed, with a tight pencil skirt that hung to her knees and a pale pink name-brand blouse. In her Manolo Blahnik heels—what else would you expect?—she was almost as tall as Nick.

Who the hell was she?

Nick’s eyes settled on me, at first surprised, then affectionate. The air blowing through the door whistled through my hair, pulled back on the top of my head. I stepped away to let them through.

“Noah, this is Sophia Aiken, my fellow intern,” Nick said, kissing me gently on the cheek.

With a curious smile on her fleshy lips, Sophia extended a hand with a manicure as perfect as my mother’s.

“It’s a pleasure, Noah,” she said.

I nodded, intimidated, feeling completely out of place.

Before I had time to respond, my mother appeared like the perfect hostess she was and greeted the new arrivals, looking over at me as she did so, probably surprised that her sloppy-looking daughter had come down to open the door.

What the hell was actually going on?

“Your father’s not here yet, Sophia. If you want to have a drink in the living room, Nick will get you something.”

She nodded and followed my mother inside.

Now that the initial shock had passed, all I felt was anger and an overwhelming urge to cry.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Nick seemed as confused as I was, and he looked away from my eyes and down at my T-shirt and tights.

My God…had I just opened the door for a senator’s daughter looking like that?

“I thought your mom told you… They called me this afternoon and told me to invite Sophia over for dinner. Apparently, her dad wants to meet me or something like that. I just assumed you knew. The other day, with all the stuff with Jenna, I didn’t have the chance to introduce you.”

“No one told me you were coming. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have said I wasn’t coming down for dinner.” I heard my mother talking to Sophia in the living room. “I can’t go in there like this… I’ll just go to bed, and we can talk when this is over.”

I tried to walk off, but he came around in front of me.

“What’s up with you? Just go upstairs, change clothes, and come down for dinner… I only agreed to this stupid dinner because I assumed you were going to be here. I don’t know what kind of BS they’re cooking up, but I’m not in the mood to sit there and blab about nothing.”

“Not my problem, Nicholas,” I said, trying to remain calm. “Plus, I think it’s weird you never mentioned her to me. You sure do seem friendly with her.”

With a scowl, he looked in the direction of her and my mother and then back at me.

“Are you fucking jealous?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

I slapped his arm without even thinking about it. “How can you say that?”

He laughed loudly enough to worsen my bad mood.

“For the love of God! She’s an unbearable snot-nosed brat who’s trying to get a job at my dad’s firm because she doesn’t want to work for her own dad. I can’t believe you’re jealous of her.”

“I’m not jealous, idiot!” I murmured, walking past him toward my room.

“If you don’t come back down, I’ll go find you and drag you back myself,” he threatened me playfully. “You know I want you here.”

If looks could kill, Nicholas would be six feet underground by now.

---